Apparatus for use in withdrawing twisted yarn from yarn packages



July 10, 1962 D. R. CHAPMAN ET AL APPARATUS FOR USE IN WITHDRAWING TWISTED v YARN FROM YARN PACKAGES Filed Dec. 2, 1959 /m en/0/s Denm'sRaymondC/zqoman 06/7/7/5 ///'5 Fe/lfs By fhe/r af/omeys United States Patent 3,043,537 APPARATUS FOR USE IN WITHDRAWING TWISTED YARN FROM YARN PACKAGES Dennis Raymond Chapman, Kenilworth, and Dennis Ellis Felks, Coventry, England, assignors to Conrtaulds Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain Filed Dec. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 856,829

Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 12, 1958 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-128) This invention relates to apparatus for use in withdrawing yarn from yarn packages such as bobbins, cones and the like.

When yarns having a degree of liveliness, for example crepe yarns, or crimped nylon yarns, are withdrawn from packages and fed into knitting machines, there is a tendency for the yarn when it becomes slack to curl upon itself andform snarls. A similar effect may also be obtained when warping and coning such yarns. A device for preventing the snarls has been proposed in British patent specification No. 640,967 consisting of a fabric which is suspended independently of the yarn package so that it continuously engages and presses on part of the outer area of the package, the pressure of the fabric being such that it offers little or no resistance to the withdrawal of the yarn but is sufficient to prevent overrunning of the yarn. This device is only suitable for use with a horizontal or substantially horizontal holder for the yarn package.

The present invention provides an improved form of device for preventing the formation of snarls which can be used with holders projecting in any direction including the vertical.

In accordance with this invention the formation of snarls is prevented by means of a pleated material such as a pleated fabric which surrounds the yarn package during the yarn withdrawal. The pleated material may be in a cylindrical or conical form, the actual shape used being preferably adapted to the shape of the package. An essential feature of the pleated material is that its inner edges provide a number of line contacts with the package, the pressure of such contacts being sufficient to prevent the yarn overrunning while interfering as little as possible with the yarn withdrawal. The pleated material used in this invention should be made sufiiciently elastic, for example by a suitable selection of such factors as construction of the fabric, the size and strength of the pleats and dimensions of the material that the pleated material maintains line contacts with the package at all times during the withdrawal of the yarns. It is not essential for the line contacts between the pleats and the package to extend continuously over the length of the package so long as sufiicient contact is provided to prevent the yarn overrunning. The pressure should, of course, be adapted to the yarn being processed so that the yarn is not damaged by the pressure.

The pleated device used in this invention is preferably made of fabric but other materials such as paper or a plastic material may be used. A suitable fabric may be made from thermoplastic yarns such as cellulose triacetate yarns, nylon yarns or polyethylene terephthalate yarns so that the pleats may be inserted using standard pleating techniques for such fabrics.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a surround or sleeve of a pleated fabric surrounding a vertical yarn package in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a modified surround or sleeve, the sleeve being made conical.

The fabric shown in the drawings is provided with a number of pleats 1 giving a series of line contacts 2 ICC . 2 with a yarn package 3 on a tube 4, the whole assembly being fitted over a carrier 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve may be pleated throughout its entire length from top 6 to bottom 7. Examples of suitable constructions v of fabric as illustrated for use on crimpe'd nylon (1 lb. to 4 oz. packages) are as follows:

Example 1 Material-Fabric'woven =fromtriacetate continuous filament yarn; denier warp, denier weft with 2 x 2 twill weave.

Number of pleats-13 Depth of pleat% inch Length of fabric-23 inches before pleating into cylindrical form.

Height of device-6V2 inches.

Example 2 Example 3 Material-Triacetate ninon fabric, warp and weft both 75 denier 19 filament yarn, 86 ends per inch, 72 picks per inch.

Constructed with 13 pleats, length 6 inches and depth of pleat 1.8 to 2.3 cm.

For a larger package, for example a 4 lb. cone, the fabric construction given above in Example 3 may be used but modified to produce a fabric device having 18 pleats each 6 /2 inches long and 1.8 to 2.3 cm. deep. With such a device it may be necessary when most of the yarn has been withdrawn and the package diameter approaches the diameter of the cone itself, to replace the device by a smaller one constructed for instance as in Examples -1, 2 and 3.

The pleated material used according to this invention can be used with horizontal yarn carriers, vertical yarn carriers and carriers at any angle between the two. The pleats are free to expand, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 when supported by a yarn package, and to collapse flat when unsupported. The pleated fabric collapses normally to a flat structure which withstands readily the normal hazards under working conditions; it is easily stored and by virtue of its elasticity can he slipped over the yarn package by hand very readily as required.

When the pleated material is used vertically, it should stand on a smooth surface so that inward movement of the material during unwinding is not impeded.

What we claim is:

1. In a process for withdrawing lively twisted yarns from a yarn package supported on a holder, the step of putting around the package a surround consisting of a pleated material and causing the package to act as a support for the surround so that the inner edges of the pleats provide a number of line contacts with the yarn package whereby the pressure of such line contacts prevents the yarn overrunning while allowing withdrawal of the yarn to proceed unimpeded.

2. In apparatus for withdrawing yarn from a yarn package, a yarn control device for preventing crimp in lively twisted yarn consisting of a sleeve of material having pleats surrounding said yarn package, said pleats being free to expand or to collapse, and the yarn package comprising a support for said sleeve, the relative size of the yarn package and the sleeve being such that only the inner edges of said pleats contact the outer surface 8. A yarn control device according to claim 2 wherein of the yarn package, whereby the pressure of said pleats the sleeve upon removal from the package collapses prevents the yarn overrunning while allowing Withdrawal normally to a fiat structure thereby withstanding normal of the yarn to proceed unimpeded. hazards under Working conditions.

3. :A yarn control device according to claim 2 wherein 5 the sleeve consists of pleated fabric.

4. A yarn control device according to claim 2 wherein said sleeve is removable fromthe package and its support References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS on the package consists primarily of friction between the 2,83 8,922 Gift June 17, 1958 inner edges of the pleats and the surface of the yarn 10 2,869,802 Williams Jan. 20, 1959 package. 2,909,913 Strub Oct. 27, 1959 5. A yarn control device according to claim 2 wherein the6 slleleve is cylirtldrlicgl. t l 2 Th I FOREIGN PATENTS the s 2 ZZ QZ evlce accor mg 0 6 mm w erem 15 640,967 Great Britain Aug. 2, 1950 7. A yarn control device according to claim 2 wherein 293661 Switzerland 1953 said sleeve is pleated from top to bottom. 

